1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for automatically preparing financial product and/or financial service-related communications such as advertisements, marketing solicitations, financial product sales solicitations, notices and the like for dissemination to clients, potential clients, etc. More specifically, it relates to methods and apparatus suitable for preparing such communications in a fully automated or significantly automated manner permitting large volumes of communications to be prepared and delivered quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
The importance of widely-distributed written or printed client communications such as advertising, solicitations, etc. is well known in the marketing and advertising field. Their applicability to the financial products and services industry also is well known. The revenue generated from sales of various products and services advertised in these solicitations measures in the many millions of dollars per year for all industries. Their revenue generation in the financial industry also has been significant, and this industry has been one of the fastest growing in this area.
Traditionally, client communications of this type have been mass-distributed using techniques such as direct mail. A substantial drawback of the direct mail approach has been the relatively significant cost of distributing the communications. The transmitters and distributors of the communications often have been required to bear the expense of the communications themselves, in some cases the envelopes in which they are contained, the labor involved in stuffing the envelopes, the postage, etc.
Over the years, many businesses which dispatch mail to customers or potential customers as a routine part of their business have seized upon the tremendous profit potential of widely distributing communications by including them as inserts or "stuffers" within the routine mailings. Businesses such as commercial banks, credit card companies, brokerage firms, mortgage companies, insurance companies and utilities, to name a few, commonly include stuffers which offer products and services running the gammit from trinkets and souvenirs to durable appliances and vacation packages. Even this method has been limited, however, in that the expenses still are substantial and the response levels to such solicitations often are quite low.
To improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of such marketing and communication techniques, companies in recent years have begun to screen or target their distribution of communications to reduce the number of communications sent and the corresponding cost, and to enhance the percentage which respond to such target-segmented marketing. Companies which have pre-existing databases of client information for their own clients, such as those mentioned above, are ideally suited for such targeted marketing. As an inherent part of their business, for example, these companies typically have client information for each of their clients. This client information typically includes not only such fundamental "client identification" information as client name and address, but often additional items such as client age, occupation, marital status, income, and the like. In many instances, the client information includes or is sufficient to derive certain information about needs and purchasing habits of the client. Even with such targeted distributions, however, response rates in many cases have remained relatively low.
An important drawback of such known approaches is the limited extent to which they personalize or individualize the communication. The communications usually are in the form of generic ads or solicitations which merely present the product or service identically in every communication to every client. A relative few of the communication or solicitation generating systems create communications which list the client identification information at the top of the communication, e.g., in a header. In the life insurance context, there have been systems which generate a letter or solicitation containing a selected set of insurance products. These systems have been limited mostly or entirely to term life insurance products. They merely list the product or products selected, and provide a brief non-individualized description or explanation of the product and perhaps sample prices or rates at various ages and amounts of coverage. The extent to which the communications take into account the particular circumstances and needs of the individual prospective client, or provide individualized explanations necessary to make an informed purchasing decision about the highlighted products, or enough interest to make further inquiries which may lead to a sale, has been extremely limited or nonexistent.
These systems also are limited in their ability to process large volumes of client communications quickly and efficiently. This is attributable in large part to their requirement for human involvement, the required level of interaction as a necessary part of their operation, the sophisticated nature of the financial products in many cases, and because of the relatively unsophisticated nature of the known systems. All of these methods and systems have been limited in that they require a substantial amount of human involvement. This necessitates substantial cost for wages, salaries, benefits, etc., and it can increase the likelihood of errors.
3. Objects of the Invention
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for preparing client communications, which method and apparatus are relatively cost effective compared to prior approaches.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for preparing client communications, which method and apparatus are capable of being highly automated.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for preparing client communications, which method and apparatus are capable of preparing large volumes of client communications relatively quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for preparing client communications, wherein the method and apparatus produce communications which are more personalized and individualized to individual clients and/or prospective clients than in many prior approaches.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.